Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama believes Syria would be better off without its president, Bashar al-Assad, but said on Tuesday that removing his chemical weapons is the top priority and he remains focused on a diplomatic solution.

In an interview with Telemundo, Obama also said U.N. investigators have now "unequivocally said that chemical weapons were used" in Syria in August and "when you look at the details of the evidence they present, it is inconceivable that anybody other than the regime used it."FULL POST

"Right now, everybody should be focused on making sure that that bill that's already passed out of the Senate hits the floor of– the House of Representatives. It's not as if the votes are not there. The votes are there," the president said in an interview with Telemundo.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – A woman arrested in connection with the splattering of paint in two locations inside the National Cathedral was ordered held without bond Tuesday.

Jia Mei Tian, 58, has been charged with defacing property. When officers arrested her on Monday, she had green paint on her clothes and shoes, and paint cans were found in three bags she had with her, according to a police report obtained by CNN.

Washington (CNN) - Lawmakers began a new session of Congress with the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, still fresh in their minds - inspiring a new push to pass gun laws that could prevent another tragedy.

On Day One, lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced nearly a dozen bills related to gun violence.

Washington (CNN) – First lady Michelle Obama will travel to Wisconsin Thursday to meet with family members of those killed and injured in a Sikh temple shooting earlier this month, White House officials confirmed Sunday.

The shooting - which left six people dead and four others injured - occurred August 5 in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The shooter, identified by police as 40-year-old Army veteran Wade Michael Page, was shot by police responding to the Sunday morning attack and later died.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - A controversial quote inscribed in the granite of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall will be corrected, an official at the Interior Department confirmed to CNN.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has given the National Park Service 30 days to consult with the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, members of the King family and others to decide on a more accurate version of the quote, the official said.